


renew me from falling

by ohjustpeachy



Series: Tony Stark Bingo Fills [21]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, References to Depression, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27563806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjustpeachy/pseuds/ohjustpeachy
Summary: No one in the Air Force knows that Colonel James Rhodes faces regular bouts of depression.They don’t know about his husband of five years now, either.Or, James has a bad day and Tony is there for him.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo Fills [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601260
Comments: 13
Kudos: 119
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	renew me from falling

**Author's Note:**

> Title: renew me from falling  
> Collaborator Name: peachy  
> Card Number: 4017  
> Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/27563806  
> Square Filled: S2, Ironhusbands  
> Ship/Main Pairing: ironhusbands  
> Rating: G  
> Major Tags: emotional hurt/comfort, established relationship, tony stark has a heart  
> Summary: No one in the Air Force knows that Colonel James Rhodes faces regular bouts of depression. They don’t know about his husband of five years now, either. Or, James has a bad day and Tony is there for him.  
> Word Count: 630

No one in the Air Force knows that Colonel James Rhodes faces regular bouts of depression. 

They don’t know about his husband of five years now, either. 

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, except it applies to such big pieces of his life that sometimes James can feel it weighing on him, heavier and heavier until he has no choice but to take a break. 

Tony, of course, can always tell when these moments approach. He doesn’t always ask about it, though. Sometimes he waits, knows that James will go to him when he’s ready.

This is one of those times, James knows. 

He’s going to be shipping out soon, and for the first time in a long time, he finds that he’s dreading it. Keeping so much of himself tucked away was part of the job, or so he told himself. But now ... now it’s starting to feel like more of a burden than he’d care to admit. Problem is, what would he do without the Air Force? Who would he be without it? 

James doesn’t have to figure this out right now, he knows. What he can do right now is take a deep breath, go find Tony, talk it out. These moments come and go, but sometimes they’re worse than others. 

He finds Tony in the kitchen, making them sandwiches, and the sight is enough to bring a small smile to his lips. Between the two of them, James is the more domestic one; Tony is rarely in the kitchen unless it’s to scavenge for coffee.

“You’re cooking?” James asks, crossing the room to investigate. Tony is a notoriously terrible cook, and has been known to put insane things together on bread and call it a sandwich. 

“I’m making sandwiches, honey bear,” Tony corrects. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you haven’t eaten today.” 

James wraps his arms around his husband, hugging him from behind. He himself hadn’t realized he hadn’t eaten yet. He hasn’t had much of an appetite these last few days. 

He breathes deeply, lets himself breathe in the faint apple scent of Tony’s shampoo and the soft downy smell of laundry detergent lingering on the old sweatshirt he’d pulled from the dryer just hours before. Everything about the man in front of him is soft and familiar. Grounding.

He smells like home, like every good thing in the world, and James exhales quietly into the crook of Tony’s next, eliciting a quiet, curious hum. 

Tony turns in his arms, studying him with a knowing look. “Bad day?” He asks quietly, tracing a thumb carefully along James’ cheekbone when he can only manage a nod.

He always knows. 

“What can I do?” Tony asks after a moment. 

James is quiet for a minute, then: “Could you just... hold me? Please,” he adds.

Tony nods, takes him by the hand, and leads them to the couch, where he settles in against the cushions and motions for James to join him. The couch is huge, and deep, and soft, and it doesn’t take much maneuvering for James to arrange himself on top of Tony. He presses his face into the soft fabric of Tony’s sweatshirt, lets himself be pulled in close. 

They’re quiet after that, breathing in tandem as the late afternoon sun starts to set, painting the living room in warm oranges and yellows. At some point, Tony reaches over and puts the TV on, murmuring soft commentary in James’ ear like he always does, soothing him. 

It’s hard, sometimes, asking for things like this, even though they’re married, even though Tony will always say yes without question, but he’s trying. 

They’ll have to talk about it, eventually, James knows. But for now, Tony hugging him tightly, the sun setting around them, they’re together, and that’s enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> i'm omg-just-peachy on tumblr, come say hi!


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